You can't capture demand you haven't created

What is demand generation, and why does it matter for material suppliers?

Demand generation is the set of activities that build awareness and consideration for your product before material specifiers begin actively searching. Once they search, we speak of lead generation, which focuses on capturing the demand.

Being listed in SpecialChem’s Master Catalogs is a good start to building your online presence. Activating the "request a sample" option enables engagement with product developers interested in your products. Nothing wrong here, but keep in mind, you are only addressing 5% of your market.

Research published in 2021 by Professor John Dawes of the Ehrenbrg-Bass Institute establishes what B2B marketers now refer to as the 95:5 rule. At any given moment, approximately 5% of your potential buyers are actively evaluating solutions. The remaining 95% are not yet in-market.

When those buyers eventually start a project, they begin with a mental shortlist. That shortlist was built long before their search began through content they read, webinars they attended, and suppliers they encountered along the way. If your product is not on that shortlist, you are, at best, competing with many options, and, at worst, not considered at all.

Thanks to the 9 million people using the SpecialChem platform for their material needs every year, we can help you gauge your current attractiveness. Using your portfolio on the platform and the visits it received, SpecialChem generates a popularity index for your category based on actual platform traffic. Out of 100 products, if you own 10 products and get 50% of the traffic, you likely do not need to bother too much about demand creation. However, if you own 20 products, but only get 5% of the traffic, you have an attractiveness deficit. Your products are not top of mind enough, which calls for a structured demand-generation program.

In short, demand generation helps you become the default choice, rather than being an option among others.

Why demand capture fails without demand generation

Demand generation in a well-established market

“We already know everyone; we do not need demand creation.”

We often hear this comment when discussing with material producers and distributors. When you operate in a well-established ecosystem, you likely know the key contacts, have relationships in place, and the market feels contained. Why would you need demand generation?

The same logic applies to digital presence more broadly: also review how people search for a solution, even if they know you.

Let’s keep focused on demand creation, and let’s assume any in-target contact knows your company exists. Are you sure they will necessarily think of your product when a relevant project begins? What guarantee do you have that you will make it to the shortlist? We are back to the difference between being known and being chosen. This is exactly the gap that a demand generation program fills.

Another point to consider: what if your existing contacts move between roles and organizations? The contact who knew your product three years ago may no longer be with the company. Their replacement brings a different shortlist, one shaped by their own experience.

Even with the same contact in place, technical specifications evolve. Your product may have been seen as a winning choice a few years ago in a specific area of need. Only, regulation may have changed, your contact’s customers may expect a different performance/sustainability profile. Your product may now be associated with the wrong use case. It is one of the fundamental reasons why demand creation is not a one-off activity.

The better question is not, “Do we know our contacts?” It is, “Are we the first name that comes to mind when a project starts, including for contacts we have not yet met?”

Lead generation if demand is low

Demand creation becomes critical when the conditions for reliable demand capture are not in place.

Demand capture delivers consistent results when three factors are in place: a well-established category, a recognized brand, and sufficient active search volume. When any of these are absent, the pipeline narrows and becomes difficult to predict.

This is where demand generation becomes essential, particularly in two situations:

1. Newer technologies and materials. When a product addresses a use case that formulators have not yet adopted, search volume is naturally low—because awareness is low. The category may not yet exist in your audience’s vocabulary. No amount of listing optimization can generate demand that isn’t there. You need to build awareness of the problem before you can capture demand for the solution.
2. Lesser-known suppliers in established categories. In mature segments such as thermal stabilizers, UV absorbers, and rheology modifiers, category awareness is high, but attention is focused on a small set of well-known brands. Formulators search for specific grades from suppliers they already trust. Being listed creates the opportunity to be found; it does not ensure you will be considered. It is even worse if you operate in niche applications.

In these cases, the underlying dynamic is the same: you cannot capture demand that doesn’t exist, or that is already directed elsewhere. 

What does a demand generation strategy look like in practice? 

Demand generation is not a single channel, but a coordinated set of touchpoints. Its purpose is to build familiarity and technical credibility with material specifiers before they enter an active project, so that when they do, your product is already part of their consideration set.

On SpecialChem, this takes the form of complementary formats deployed over time.

• Newsletter placements and targeted text ads reach formulators and product developers while they engage with technical content well before a project begins, when attention is still exploratory rather than transactional.
• Display campaigns reinforce visibility across the categories and application areas where your product is relevant, ensuring your brand appears consistently in the environments your audience already uses.
• Webinars, case studies, and technical articles demonstrate how your product addresses specific formulation challenges. This is especially important for newer technologies or niche applications, where the use case itself needs to be understood before demand can emerge.

A formulator who has read your article, seen your brand in a newsletter, and attended your webinar is no longer a cold contact when they search the Master Catalog. They arrive with context and familiarity. The sample request then becomes a conversion rather than a first interaction.

That is the difference between an active demand generation strategy and a passive listing.

Identify where your products stand: book your free diagnosis 

SpecialChem can walk you through shaping this preliminary analysis into an executable strategy through our GAP (Growth Ability Profile) diagnosis, which identifies where your current approach is performing well and where it is limiting growth. It provides a clear, data-informed view of your opportunities, along with practical recommendations aligned to your market.

This diagnosis is backed by data. Your products are already listed in SpecialChem’s Master Catalogs; this is our core promise to list all products from all suppliers. It means material specifiers can already see your products and compare them with other grades. The platform already provides a factual picture of your product's visibility and demand potential. The GAP diagnosis helps combine it with your business objectives. At the end of the call, you will have clarity on your strong points, the gaps to address, and a prioritized path forward.